21222

Australia. The King Farouk Specimen of the 1854/3 Port Phillip Gol The King Farouk Specimen of the 1

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:14,000.00 USD Estimated At:400,000.00 - 500,000.00 USD
Australia. The King Farouk Specimen of the 1854/3 Port Phillip Gol The King Farouk Specimen of the 1
Australia. The King Farouk Specimen of the 1854/3 Port Phillip Gol <B>The King Farouk Specimen of the 1854/3 Port Phillip Gold Two Ounce Piece</B></I> This piece is also known as a Taylor Pattern, or Kangaroo Office Pattern.<BR> In the late 18th, and early 19th, centuries, Australia was a British Penal Colony and was considered the prime dumping ground for hardened criminals from an England plagued by crime. There would soon be a major change in attitude toward travel to Australia, brought about by the discovery of gold in New South Wales and Victoria. People from around the world were selling all their possessions, taking their life savings and booking passage to Australia in hopes of striking it rich in the gold fields.<BR> As more and more fortune hunters flooded into the Australian outback, it became evident that gold nuggets and dust were not adequate means of exchange for ordinary commerce. It was obvious that some type of coinage was necessary for business transactions to take place in an orderly fashion. A group of businessmen approached the Lieutenant-Governor, Sir Henry Young, with a request to start a mint and produce some type of coins from the raw gold coming from the gold fields. It was decided that ingots, not coins, would be produced. Thousands of ingots were produced and few have survived.<BR> The gold ingots were not well received and everyone, banks and public, demanded a type of gold coinage. In 1852, the Bullion Act was amended to allow the striking of one, two and five pound issues as well as ten shilling gold pieces. In 1852 the Adelaide Pound was struck, and the first effort failed miserably when the die lasted only long enough to strike 20 or 30 coins. The second effort was more successful and 25,000 pieces of the Type Two Adelaide Pound were produced. Of these 25,000, few have survived and high-grade examples are very rare.<BR> The Port Phillip Kangaroo Office Mint was a private enterprise concerned with striking coins for profit. The coins were eventually produced, but the profits never appeared. At about the same time people in London were being told that the new Adelaide coins contained 10 percent more gold than their face value, there came fresh news that gold was being bought direct from the miners at the Ballarat goldfields for 2 Pounds, 15 Shillings per ounce. With the official value being pegged at 4 Pounds per ounce, it occurred to London diesinker and engraver William Joseph Taylor that there were still severe shortages of gold coins in Victoria. The firm of Hodgkin, Taylor and Tyndall proposed to set up a mint in Melbourne by buying gold at 2 Pounds, 15 Shillings per ounce and turning it into 4 Pounds per ounce gold coins.<BR> In 1851, Taylor had exhibited a coining press at the Great Exhibition and for his latest adventure had no trouble finding wealthy backers to provide him with a fully supplied ship for his trip to Melbourne. Sailing on a chartered vessel, the Kangaroo, Taylor arrived on 23rd October, 1853. Here, the problems which would ultimately doom the project to failure struck. The wharves at Melbourne had no facilities for moving the press dockside in one piece. Many months were lost as the press was stripped down to be moved.<BR> In the meantime, a large shipment of gold sovereigns arrived from London and the price of gold increased to near the official rate. Dies to strike 1/4 ounce, 1/2 ounce, 1 ounce and 2 ounce gold coins had accompanied the team from London and with the new price of gold these were now useless.<BR> In spite of this set back, Taylor opened the Kangaroo office in May of 1854, hoping that his minting facility would be chosen to produce official gold coins, although it was almost eight months before the press was reassembled. The Port Phillip Kangaroo Office struck gold issues of two (8 Pounds), one (4 Pounds), half (2 Pounds) and quarter (1 Pound) ounces dated 1853. All issues are extremely rare. Taylor then exhibited the press at the 1854 Melbourne Exhibition in an attempt to attract a new trade striking tokens and medals. When this failed, Taylor and his backers admitted defeat. The press was sold and orders were given for the dies to be tossed into Port Phillip Bay. This was not done, however, and the dies for the 1/4 ounce and 1 ounce were later found by Stokes & Sons in Melbourne, to whom the original press had been sold. Now operating as Stokes (Australasia) Limited, this firm has been responsible for a number of restrikes in lead for the Numismatic Society of Victoria.<BR> It is evident that Taylor also struck several trial pieces from each of the dies. The British Museum has a complete set in gold, purchased in 1862 from Mr. Morgan Brown who was involved in the minting of the coins in Melbourne, Australia, while the Royal Australian Mint has a set of gold-colored gilt copper restrikes. One, Half, and Quarter Ounces were sold in the Montagu Colonial Auction at Sotheby's in 1903 and again sold at the Murdoch sale at Sothebys in 1903. The Murdoch sale also included some fresh Two Ounce pieces (two 1853 Gold and two 1854 in Gold, copper). It was reported at the time that these Two Ounce pieces <I>were undoubtedly all recent strikings....struck in gold alloyed with copper, instead of with silver.</B></I><BR> According to Jim Noble this piece was made for a collector like J.D. Murdoch in 1898, and was later sold as lot # 608 in the Murdoch sale, sold by Sotheby's in London from 1903-1905, where it fetched the lofty sum of 30 Pounds. Thus, this is one of the aforementioned Murdoch coins. It next surfaced in the Palace Collection of Egypt, sold by Sotheby and Co., February 24-28 and March 3-7, 1954, as lot 843, where it was described, "Australia, Port Philip, two ounces, 1854. <I>only three known, brilliant; in the cataloguer's opinion this was made around 1898.</B></I> As opposed to the set in the British Museum, this piece has a 4 engraved over the 3 making the date 1854/3. The reasoning behind this is unclear. There is speculation as to whether this is struck from original dies, or from dies made specifically for Murdoch.<BR> This piece is struck as a Proof with a reeded edge and shows some light hairlining of the Proof surfaces. The obverse has PORT PHILLIP AUSTRALIA inscribed incused on a raised, engine-turned rim, in the center is a Kangaroo to right with date below, the reverse has PURE AUSTRALIAN GOLD TWO OUNCES inscribed incused on a raised engine-turned rim, in the center the figure 2, with TWO OUNCES inscribed, incused. Undoubtedly, this is one of the great treasures in all of Australian numismatics, and interested parties may see another 50 years pass before this great rarity appears on the market once again.<BR> <I>We would like to thank Tom Jenkins of Australian Coin and Stamp Company (from his web site "Gold Rush" article), Coin Web by Alan Austin, Stephen Fenton of Knightsbridge Coins, and Jim Noble of Noble Numismatics Pty, Ltd., for their help with historical information in this write-up.</B></I> <BR><BR><B>Important notice:</B> Heritage usually auctions material at the rate of 200-250 lots per hour. On some occasions eBay Live bid software or the Internet may not be able to keep up with the pace of the auction. We recommend placing a realistic absentee bid now as insurance to avoid disappointment. 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This lot is being auctioned in conjunction with a live floor auction by Heritage Galleries & Auctioneers. All final auction and invoice information will be supplied by Heritage Galleries & Auctioneers, and all other information should be considered preliminary. Lot:21222